Explanation of the 31st session

The current complainant’s mother, on the third day of her appearance on the witness stand, admitted that she had given false testimony in a previous criminal case in which a security officer was accused of harassing her and her son (the current complainant’s son).

She also said that after the trial ends, she does not intend to sue Michael.

“I want justice here.”

Her statements about Jackson, and her description of her selfish and opportunistic behavior during the time—according to her own claim—when she was imprisoned in Neverland, called into question the credibility and validity of her allegations. Michael’s defense attorney, Thomas Mesereau, successfully pointed out that the complainant’s mother had defended Jackson with enthusiasm in her interviews. At the time when she claims she was imprisoned in Neverland, she was taken twice to very expensive hair salons, and after those two so-called “escapes,” she had returned to Neverland of her own choice.

In a video that was being shown for the fourth time to the members of the jury, the complainant calls Michael Jackson “Michael, Daddy,” and her mother, when Michael’s generosity is mentioned, calmly laughs and says that he was “a response to his prayers and those of his children.”

After the video was played, the complainant’s mother claimed in today’s session, “I was playing.” She continued, “I’m a bad actress.” Mesereau responded to the complainant’s mother, “No, I think you’re a good actress.”

He went on to say that she was reciting from memory only the text that Jackson’s employees had written for her.

When Mesereau asked her how much time she had spent memorizing that text, the complainant’s mother could not answer.

This interview was supposed to be included in the second part of the documentary “Living with Michael Jackson.” In the film, the complainant’s mother and her children appear happy and very natural, and they talk freely and in complete calm about Michael Jackson and the impact he had on their lives.

Her appearance in court was very different from what is seen in that film. In the film, the complainant’s mother’s hair is long and wavy, and she has makeup on. In court, with a pale face and no makeup, she admitted that she cannot judge other people’s character well.

She stated that out of fear she was forced to cooperate in preparing the aforementioned interview and to carry out the instructions she was given. She also claimed that, under the influence of Jackson employees Ronald Konitzer and Dieter Wiesner, she had come to trust Jackson and had left her son alone with them.

“I was fooled. Yes, I was fooled. But now I know something else. Now I know that Neverland is a place for alcohol, vulgar things, and sexual relationships with little boys.”

The judge ordered that this statement by the complainant’s mother be removed from the court transcripts and told the jury members to not hear it.

Today, the complainant’s mother, while on the witness stand, had decided to answer only the questions instead of giving additional explanations.

In relation to the complainant’s mother’s claim that she was imprisoned in Neverland, Mesereau asked, “You didn’t escape from Neverland at all, did you?”

“Oh yes, I escaped.”

“How many times did you escape from the black hole where you were imprisoned in Neverland?”

In response to Mesereau’s question, the complainant’s mother admitted that during the time she was imprisoned in Neverland, she had left there three times.

She was deeply upset when Mesereau asked whether, during her imprisonment in Neverland, someone had forced her to undergo waxing.

“Does looking at the receipts bring anything to mind?” Thomas Mesereau asked this question while showing receipts related to waxing her legs, eyebrows, face, and lips in one of the very expensive beauty salons, costing more than $140. The dates on those receipts showed February 11, 2003.

The complainant’s mother refused to look at the receipts and said, “I’m telling you it was only leg waxing.” While pointing to Michael, the witness said, “He can make anything look the way he wants.”

Mesereau asked, “And you—how about you?”

Mesereau also asked her to explain her complaint against J.C. Penney, a store security officer who had accused her of sexually abusing him.

She had agreed to drop the case after receiving $152,000.

In 1998, the complainant’s family was arrested by the store’s security officers along with clothing they had stolen from the store. The complainant’s mother claims that the security officers beat her husband and her son (the current complainant). She also claims that one of those officers, named J.C. Penney, sexually abused her. In her complaint, the mother of the family brings her allegations against the security officers. After some time, she denies the allegations she had made against J.C. Penney in order to remove the case from the criminal process and be able to settle by receiving $152,000 and withdraw her complaint against the store’s officers. A year later, she again tries to file a complaint against J.C. Penney, but this time her lawyers do not accompany her in that effort, and the case remains closed.

Mesereau emphasized that the complainant’s mother had withdrawn her allegations of sexual abuse in that case in order to settle with the opposing party. The witness testified that her husband had removed the sexual abuse allegations from the complaint while she was under his control.

She continued that after separating from her husband, she had asked her lawyers to bring the case of her allegations against J.C. Penney back into motion—where she had falsely denied her allegations of sexual harassment. But her lawyers refused to do so.

After the complainant’s mother admitted to giving false testimony, Mesereau continued, “You gave false testimony to get more money?”

According to witnesses present in court, Thomas Mesereau has, so far, dealt hard blows to the complainant’s mother’s claims. He described the complainant’s mother as a crafty actress who is money-loving. He called the complainant’s allegations about being imprisoned in Neverland lies, and said that during her time in Neverland she stayed in one of the most luxurious units—previously inhabited by Elizabeth Taylor.

Further questioning of the complainant’s mother was postponed until Monday’s session.

Source: Court TV / AP / Yahoo news / AFP